They sat quietly in the dim lights, heads bowed, with tormented expressions etched on their faces as they processed last week’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, and as they prayed for Connecticut’s grieving families.
About 20 people attended a prayer service at The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Wednesday, where Bishop James Waggoner, of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, expressed the importance of coming together as a community in times of tragedy.
“We’re here because what has happened calls for a response,” he said. “And we will continue to respond by remembering those who have died, those who are suffering loss and the one who committed such a heinous act in our ongoing prayers.”
He added that such calamity also pushes people to reflect upon who they are, and pushes the church to reflect on who it is.
“Be pastoral,” he said. “Be there to listen. Invite the tough questions. Allow room for anger.”
He said when possible, do this in person, but certainly do it in prayer.
“We cannot fix the deeply painful situation in Newtown, but we can be there in spirit; and it matters,” he said.
Waggoner also reminded the group to be prophetic by seeking justice, fairness and continuing to share the Jesus story.
In a statement released the day after the shooting, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori asked all Episcopalians to be visionary by praying for an end to gun violence.
She wrote, “More than 2000 children and youth die from guns each year, more than the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Will you pray and work toward a different future, the one the Bible’s prophets dreamed of, where city streets are filled with children playing in safety (Zechariah 8:5)?.”
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